JOSÉ SARAMAGO (1922-2010) was the author of many novels, among them Blindness, All the Names, Baltasar and Blimunda, and The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
"A romance and an adventure, a rumination on royalty and religion in eighteenth century Portugal and a bitterly ironic comment on the uses of power."--New York Times "A charming and really moving love story... An unexpected gem."--USA Today "An enchanting novel [with a] love story which soars over the rest of the action like a flute above a heavy orchestra."--New York Times Book Review --